As the local weather is getting colder, dipping oneself into a hot spring is a pleasurable way to alleviate the winter blues.
Meanwhile, you may double your pleasure by finding a hot spring resort that serves gourmet food. The Rock Hot Spring and Gourmet Food in New Beitou District (新北投區), north Taipei, is one of those places where a number of Taiwanese singers and journalists like to hang out after a hard day's work.
This hot spring resort hotel is like a secret garden built along the hill-top after you walk up a narrow stone stairway. The owner, Cai Zhi-jie (蔡志杰), ran a seafood restaurant with his wife for many years in Danshui (淡水). In his early forties, Cai moved his family to Beitou to build and manage this 350-ping (1,155m2) holiday spot five years ago. He decorated the white-sulphur hot spring pool in his hotel with large pebble stones and his outdoor dinning tables and roofs with driftwood that he gathered from the northern coast.
Cai decorated his self-designed dining hall with art. The facade of the dining rooms reveals a touch of Spanish elegance. As to the decor inside, expensive Taiwan-style antique wood furniture occupies several of the dining room corners. All of the dining implements, be it rice bowl, tea cup, soup bowl or plates, were produced by Cai's artist-friend in Yingge (鶯歌), a town renowned for its high quality ceramics.
One of the most popular dishes from Cai's kitchen is named boneless beef (無骨牛肉). The course is made by first brushing a large chunk of beef with homemade soy sauce and then roasting it over a small fire for 20 to 30 minutes until the outer layer of the meat turns deep brown, but the inside remains raw. The beef is then sliced into thin pieces and placed on top of shredded onion which has been soaked in ice water to take away its strong smell and flavor. A small dish of yellow mustard mixed with lemon juice is prepared in which to dip the slices of beef.
The second serving should be eaten without accompaniment. By the time you are chewing on the second slice, the meat gives out a very rich taste. The third slice is best to have along with the shredded onion to enjoy the combination of crunchy onion and smooth flesh.
Other recommended courses include tempura salad sushi (天婦羅沙拉壽司), steamed shrimp roll (翡翠蝦捲) and bitter melon with salty egg (鹹蛋苦瓜) -- all of them are signature dishes from Cai that feature an unusual combination of Japanese and Taiwanese flavors. The restaurant is 10 minutes away from New Beitou MRT station by taxi.
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